Some background: This is the stuff I use at work, have been for 20 years now. I really like their tools (well, their wrenches and screwdrivers, anyway) and they have never let me down. This is the brand that I am most comfortable using; never think, worry, or doubt these tools- this is important when the quality and speed of my work affects my income. I have plenty of Craftsman (and Stanley and Husky and Proto and Kobalt...) tools at home. They are great, their warranties are great, too- but when you are working in rural areas of the Philippines and your Craftsman driver or wrench snaps, well- you just can't drive down to the local Sears to get a new one. I need stuff that never breaks for work. (yes, I know Snap-on stuff breaks, too. It usually breaks for a reason, though)
So here goes a quick review of the Snap-on drivers I have and use:
My first: The yellow wonder. Snap on still makes these in a number of colors (~$64). Yellow is easy to spot on the ground- or in someone else's pocket when they walk away with your tool.
I beat the life out of this poor baby. The ratcheting mechanicals were replaced twice over its life (the repair kit is still $10 at Snap-on, awesome!) and I mushroomed out the base of the blade at one point and needed to file it back into useable shape. I was never the biggest fan of ratcheting drivers, but I need a traveling tool kit, so one driver to stand in for a full kit worked for me.
The four-sided, hard plastic handle does not look very comfortable, but it really, really fits my hand well. The shape allows a ton of torque application and it never gets too slippery, but hard handled screwdrivers will slip more than their soft handled brothers. I've used this driver as a chisel on a fairly regular basis (mea culpa and all that) but the top cap still screws on and off without issue. You can fit about 8 bits in the hollow handle as well. The turning direction lock (tight, loose and lock positions) spins easily enough, but generally requires two fingers if you have any amount of gunk on your hands at all.
The blade and ratcheting action is smooth and quiet (not silent). I never had a ratchet internal fail in the field, or slip on me. When the internals have failed, it has been a slow process- maybe a tooth slip here and there, I was always able to correct this by locking the ratchet in the center position and continue working. It has about 26 "clicks" per revolution; the knurling on the blade is great for quick spinning of a screw- in fact it has become one of my "must-haves" on any ratcheting screwdriver. The bits are standard hex shank, held in with a magnet. The only problem I ever had with the magnet (or the blade in general), was when using the screwdriver and a flat bit to chisel through some concrete. After 30 minutes of sledge hammering the thing the magnet came loose. It just snapped back into place when I put it back in.
The handle and blade clean up nicely with a dry towel, with no ridges or crannies to collect gunk. One issue with ratcheting drivers in general, or anything that has a socket to accept bits, is the diameter of the tool shaft. The shaft is wider than the tip of the driver, so the shaft will not fit into small holes. This crops up more than I would expect, lots of companies design stuff to have a screwdriver blade go through an opening before contacting the screw (light sockets, lots of electrical work, in fact) - and ratcheting drivers have problems here. The blade has also developed some play over the years. There is some wobble between the blade and handle (and a small amount between the bit and blade)- but this has never been an issue for me, personally- I know it really bothers others.
This screwdriver has been retired to in-home work, and is usually the first thing thrown into a travel kit when I need to leave the house. And it is yellow. Yay!
The new kid on the block:
Snap-on had to go and introduce a new handle about ten years ago (?), and I had to try it out. The new version has a handle with three sides instead of four and a soft, rubbery grip, cost, about $72. It is also about one inch longer.
The new handle shape just works- the torque you can apply with this screwdriver is really impressive, and the handle never (never) gets slippery. The ratchet direction lever is re-shaped and can now be flipped with one finger (but the internal ratchet feels the same). The removable/replaceable blade pulls in and out but now has two- TWO knurled sections, instead of one long knurled section. The relentless march of progress.
The handle is still hollow, still holds 8-10 bits, but the top cap is a bit flatter in shape, which helps when you need to apply downward pressure on a fastener. The top cap also has a hex recess that holds one bit, so if you need an emergency "stubby" driver you have one. One other small difference, the top cap now connects to the handle with a quarter-turn- no longer screwing on to the back. I like this, it is faster, and I don't have to worry about damaging the cap threads.
I was worried about the rubber grip getting dirty and staying dirty- also about how it would deal with industrial cleaners I often use on my tools. On a good day, my tools get cleaned with pure isopropyl, but most of the time I end up using whatever "cleaner" is available on site. Some nasty chemicals get used as industrial cleaners, but the rubber (ish) handle has never gotten soft or tacky and it wipes down pretty fast and easy (not as easy as a hard plastic handle, though). After ten years hard at work it has held up pretty well. It breaks down for packing well, too.
Lastly, the bits I use in these drivers: I no longer use Snap-on bits. They are just fine, but I found that PB Swiss bits work better for me and my job. First, the PB bits are color coded by both screw type and size, so it becomes really easy to grab the bit you need. Two, they just seem to fit perfectly and they never seem to wear out.
ALL bits wear out, this is what makes the ratcheting driver such a great idea- you just need to replace a bit when it dies, not the whole tool.
PB Swiss bits I use:
Yellow=phillips; Green=Pozidrive; Blue=Torx; Purple=metric hex; Black=flat; weird, titanium color= square.
Fixed handled Snap on drivers are next...
